Mechanical stresses within a semiconductor device substrate can modulate device performance. That is, stresses within a semiconductor device are known to enhance semiconductor device characteristics. Thus, to improve the characteristics of a semiconductor device, tensile and/or compressive stresses are created in the channel of the n-type device (e.g., NFETs) and/or p-type devices (e.g., PFETs). However, the same stress component, either tensile stress or compressive stress, discriminatively affects the characteristics of an n-type device and p-type device.
For example, it has been known that a device exhibits better performance characteristics when formed on a silicon layer (or cap) that is epitaxially grown on a SiGe layer that has relaxed on top of the silicon substrate. In this system, the silicon cap is subject to biaxial tensile strain. When epitaxially grown on silicon, an unrelaxed SiGe layer will have a lattice constant that conforms to that of the silicon substrate. Upon relaxation (through a high temperature process for example) the SiGe lattice constants approaches that of its intrinsic lattice constant which is larger than that of silicon. A fully relaxed SiGe layer has a lattice constant close to its intrinsic value. When the silicon is epitaxially grown thereon, the silicon layer conforms to the larger lattice constant of the relaxed SiGe layer and this applies physical biaxial stress (e.g., expansion) to the silicon layer being formed thereon. This physical stress applied to the silicon layer is beneficial to the devices (e.g., CMOS devices) formed thereon because the expanded silicon layer increases n-type performance while a higher Ge content in the SiGe layer improves p-type performance.
In order to maximize the performance of both NFETs and PFETs within integrated circuit (IC) chips, the stress components should be engineered and applied differently for NFETs and PFETs. That is, because the type of stress which is beneficial for the performance of an NFET is generally disadvantageous for the performance of the PFET. More particularly, when a device is in tension (e.g., in the direction of current flow in planar device), the performance characteristics of the NFET are enhanced while the performance characteristics of the PFET are diminished. To selectively create tensile stress in an NFET and compressive stress in a PFET, distinctive processes and different combinations of materials are used.
For example, a trench isolation structure has been proposed for forming the appropriate stresses in the NFETs and PFETs, respectively. When this method is used, the isolation region for the NFET device contains a first isolation material which applies a first type of mechanical stress on the NFET device in a longitudinal direction (e.g., parallel to the direction of current flow) and in a transverse direction (e.g., perpendicular to the direction of current flow). Further a first isolation region and a second isolation region are provided for the PFET and each of these isolation regions applies a unique mechanical stress on the PFET device in the transverse and longitudinal directions.
Alternatively, liners on gate sidewalls have been proposed to selectively induce the appropriate stresses in the channels of the FET devices (see, Ootsuka et al., IEDM 2000, p. 575, for example). By providing liners the appropriate stress is applied closer to the device than the stress applied as a result of the trench isolation fill technique.
While these methods do provide structures that have tensile stresses being applied to the NFET device and compressive stresses being applied along the longitudinal direction of the PFET device, they may require additional materials and /or more complex processing and thus, resulting in higher costs. Further, the level of stress that can be applied in these situations is typically moderate (i.e., on the order of 100s MPa). Therefore, it is desired to provide more cost-effective and simplified methods for creating large tensile and compressive stresses in the channels NFET and PFET, respectively.